THE STORY OF THE TIME CAPSULE ' 



By G. Edward Pendkay 

 Assistant to the President, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.; Chair- 

 man, Westinghouse Time Capsule Committee 



[With 4 plates] 



E\'ER SINCE archeologists and historians turned their talents to 

 deciphering the unrecorded past, human beings have dreamed of 

 simplifying the problem for scientists of the future, deliberately 

 preparing a message from our time to theirs. 



Until recently this perennial dream has been only a dream. The 

 problem of preserving such a record is extremely difficult. Crypts 

 on the earth's surface, no matter how strong, offer obvious tempta- 

 tion to vandals. Most materials suitable to be deposited in the 

 earth are subject to rapid corrosion, or are too brittle or too difficult 

 to find after burial. Too little was known about the effects of time 

 to permit anyone confidently to design a vessel for the future. 



A few months ago engineers of the Westinghouse Electric & Manu- 

 facturing Co. decided that the advance of teclinology had removed 

 these difficulties at last, and what hitherto had seemed impossible 

 could now be done. 



Early in 1938 they decided upon building a "Time Capsule" cap- 

 able of lasting 5,000 years — a period of time almost as long as that 

 of all recorded history. Five thousand years ago the pyramids were 

 still unbuilt. The peoples of that time had discovered metals, and 

 were using metallic alloys. They had learned how to write down 

 human speech, and record language on clay tablets and stone. They 

 understood commerce ; they knew how to build huge cities. But they 

 had not yet devised the alphabet, and they did not know of the 

 existence of iron. 



Five thousand years from now the peoples of the future will look 

 back upon us as we look back on the early Egyptians, Sumerians 

 and Babylonians. It was the plan of Westinghouse engineers to pro- 

 vide them with more knowledge of us than we have of any of the 

 ancient peoples who lived before us. 



• Reprinted by permission of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. 



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